Two Surrey residents are among 25 people named among the year's Top 25 Canadian Immigrants for their outstanding contributions.

Amrik Singh Aulakh is a is a Surrey RCMP Auxiliary Constable and tireless community contributor. He has volunteered more than 2,500 hours to the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, doing patrols, traffic safety and speed watch programs and working with the RCMP at Counter Attack roadside checks. He has also volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Blood Services and Canada Revenue Agency.

“No one wants to live in a troubled neighbourhood. I want my city to be a safe and better place to work and live in,” he says. “I am helping seniors, newcomers who have issues and who need to talk to law enforcement. I feel like a great asset to the RCMP and my community. By volunteering I am giving something back to my community.”

Born in India, Aulakh has previously won the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award, the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee Awards and a Surrey Leader 2013 Community Leader Award for his commitment to volunteerism.

“I frequently feel like what I’m doing helps people. Whether it’s navigating a difficult system, or providing blood, or filing taxes, it’s helping my community as a whole,” Aulakh says. “When I think about how things were back home, I see the need for people to step up and help people out.”

Maria Nieves Santos-Greaves, who came to Canada from the Philippines, is president of Surrey Hearing Care Inc., but provides a healthy dose of humanity along with her entrepreneurship, often providing home visits or rides to clients.